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The Descent

Witnessing Russia's Spiral into Madness Under Putin

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The Descent

By: Marc Bennetts
Narrated by: Marc Bennetts
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Bloomsbury presents The Descent: Witnessing Russia's Spiral into Madness Under Putin, written and read by Marc Bennetts

An extraordinary first-hand account of Russia’s descent into totalitarianism, paranoia and madness.

Marc Bennetts, foreign correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times, moved to Russia in the chaotic final years of President Yeltsin's rule. Twenty-five years later, The Times pulled him out of Russia over concerns for his security following his arrest in Moscow at a protest against the war in Ukraine.

From the “wild” 1990s in Moscow to narrowly escaping death under fire in Ukraine, The Descent is a unique and personal diary of how Russia spiraled into violent insanity. Bennetts witnessed the often-terrifying events in Russia up close, observing how the Kremlin's ubiquitous propaganda warped minds and fomented hatred of Putin's foes, at home and abroad, even among people close to him. After leaving Russia, he travelled in war-torn Ukraine, where he came face-to-face with the appalling consequences of this madness.

Bennetts meets a vast array of characters, from pro-war Russian politicians, influential Russian Orthodox Church officials and aggressive Kremlin activists to opposition figures and a Siberian shaman who tried to “exorcise” Putin, as well as Russians who took up arms to fight Moscow's invading forces. In this extraordinary panorama, Marc Bennetts shows in frightening detail how a society can lose its mind, and how easily a power-hungry leader can reshape an entire country in his own malevolent image.©2026 Marc Bennetts (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Activists Art & Literature Journalists, Editors & Publishers Politics & Activism Politics & Government Russia Russian & Soviet World Emotionally Gripping War Soviet Union
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Critic reviews

Haunting and insightful...(a) pitch-perfect account of how his adopted country descended into evil and madness. (Edward Lucas)
A brilliant, deeply reported and deeply felt account of how Putin's Russia descended into delusion, madness and evil from a reporter with a better understanding and experience of Russia than almost any observer writing today.
An unflinching journey in the dark night of the Russian mind under Putin - written by a top British reporter who knows it with an unrivalled quarter-century of intimacy.
Bennetts blends informed analysis of Russia's descent into autocracy under Putin with the kind of personal insights that only come from living in the country for a quarter of a century.
A brilliant book from one of our most experienced Moscow correspondents. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Russia's slide into fascism.
Bennetts paints an intimate portrait of Russian thinking that is worth a thousand think-tank reports from London or Washington.
(A) vivid...heartbroken memoir.
A compelling portrait of twenty-first century Russia under Putin, and its slide into madness and murder. There's vivid reporting from Ukraine & some wonderful personal reminiscences and dark humour. Recommended. (Luke Harding, author of 'Invasion: Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival')
Bennetts charts Russia's evolution into a full-on wartime dictatorship. (The Economist)
[Bennetts] is vulnerable, often emotional and sometimes naive, anything but a detached observer... roaming the streets of Moscow arguing with people from all walks of life. (The New Statesman)
A fascinating, hard-hitting diary... Bennetts portrays Russia’s terrifying descent into violence. (The Herald)
Vivid...a particularly fine addition to the genre
All stars
Most relevant
In another world Russia with it's STEM talent might have been an AI superpower with incomes on par with Europe. instead it is likely to become an impoverished client state of China unable to provide its citizens with basic necessities. All that is down to the death grip that a single megalomaniac and his cronies have over the country. This book from someone who reported for the Times from inside Russia is an interesting read of how this happened and a timely warning for a world that's tiring of democracy.

A timely and well written book

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